Quiet Place

WHERE would Orange County be without Disney? So asks letter writer Marianne Kehoe of Sunrise, Ore. Let me say what it was like before Disney.No clogged roads, no long lines anywhere. Many didn't lock the doors to their homes. There were few murders, robberies and break-ins. No 100-year-old trees were ripped down to make way for more and more motels, strip malls (half-occupied), surplus apartment buildings and homes. There were no shortages of water, sewer lines or electricity, no soaring prices - it was a quiet, relaxed place to live.

Murder victim Maria Ridulph was described as a sweet, trusting child by prosecutors in opening statements today at the trial of the man charged with her murder more than a half-century ago. Jack D. McCullough, a 72-year-old Seattle retiree and former Sycamore resident, is charged with killing the 7-year-old Sycamore girl in 1957 and dumping her body near Galena "in the cold dark woods like she was a piece of garbage," DeKalb County State's...

The slip of a girl leans against the wall, talking to the attentive teacher. Her voice is low, but the pensive face and near sobs indicate seriousness.Corine Wilson responds with a compassionate voice and words that shore up the girl's spirits. Finally, there is a hug and the girl blends into the stream of pupils changing classes, relief on her face.A pupil from last year, the girl had sought out Wilson to unburden her troubles - a pending divorce at home, to be followed by an out-of-state move.

The street sign at the corner of Archie Place and Center Cross Street in Sycamore is covered by a flowering vine so thick with greenery and purple blossoms that the signpost itself is no longer visible. But for those old enough to recall, the beauty of the sign can't block out the memories of a crime that began on the corner almost 55 years ago when 7-year-old Maria Ridulph disappeared. "I go by it daily," Charles Ridulph, Maria's brother, said Friday of the spot where his younger sister was last seen.

What started out as a classic case of parental opposition to a school rezoning plan evolved into a test case on the fine art of compromise.Parents from the Port Orange communities of A Quiet Place in the Country and Spruce Creek Fly-In recently showed up at a meeting of the Volusia County School Board prepared to wage battle. The object of their dispute was a proposal to change the zoning lines and switch an estimated 32 elementary students from Samsula Elementary in New Smyrna Beach to Sugar Mill Elementary in Port Orange.

A special place to take a photo. A great place to have lunch. A quiet place to think. Central Florida has numerous treasures to explore. In our annual "All Our Best" issue, Sentinel staffers introduce you to places that you might not have discovered. A few are off the beaten path. Others are local favorites. There's no science to how the writers chose their locations. Each simply wrote about a place where she or he has had good experiences. For instance, if you are looking for organic food, we suggest a good place to find it. Or maybe you want to find the best place to use your golf swing or to see what was once Florida.

It's hard to find a quiet place in this town. Traffic and tourists clog the roads, strip malls sprawl into the suburbs. Even Lake Eola Park is filled with people and dogs -- good luck finding a vacant bench on a Saturday. But just a few miles from downtown is a gem called Dickson Azalea Park, between Robinson Street and Central Avenue near Thornton Park. You have probably passed the park, an unimposing place that sits 10 or so feet below street level. A trail winds down to the park. Up high, oaks stretch their branches, shading the path.

By Reviewed By Nicholas A. Basbanes, Special to the Sentinel, June 9, 2002

With summer vacation at hand, reading and day dreaming about real and imagined places become the order of the day. Yet for all the traveling and visiting that may be done, it's always reassuring to be reminded that there is no place like home. SUPER MARKET The Dream Shop, by Katharine Kenah, illustrations by Peter Catalanotto (HarperCollins, $16.95, 32 pages): Informed by her cousin Joseph that it is possible to "purchase dreams" by following a few simple instructions -- "squeeze your eyes shut tight and think about wooden horses prancing backwards" -- Pip is transported to a huge mart that is filled with shelf after shelf of beguiling items.

It was early in the morning and I was on the road, looking for a place to eat breakfast.When I'm traveling, I'm not too picky about where I eat lunch or dinner, but breakfast I'm serious about. Breakfast has to be just right. If breakfast isn't just right, then it throws me out of kilter for the day. So I follow certain rules when deciding where to eat breakfast.And on this particular day I'd already passed up several potential places because they didn't meet the all-important Rule No. 1: The right kind of cars and trucks have to be parked in the parking lot.Don't be fooled just because a parking lot is full.

The street sign at the corner of Archie Place and Center Cross Street in Sycamore is covered by a flowering vine so thick with greenery and purple blossoms that the signpost itself is no longer visible. But for those old enough to recall, the beauty of the sign can't block out the memories of a crime that began on the corner almost 55 years ago when 7-year-old Maria Ridulph disappeared. "I go by it daily," Charles Ridulph, Maria's brother, said Friday of the spot where his younger sister was last seen.

A special place to take a photo. A great place to have lunch. A quiet place to think. Central Florida has numerous treasures to explore. In our annual "All Our Best" issue, Sentinel staffers introduce you to places that you might not have discovered. A few are off the beaten path. Others are local favorites. There's no science to how the writers chose their locations. Each simply wrote about a place where she or he has had good experiences. For instance, if you are looking for organic food, we suggest a good place to find it. Or maybe you want to find the best place to use your golf swing or to see what was once Florida.

It's hard to find a quiet place in this town. Traffic and tourists clog the roads, strip malls sprawl into the suburbs. Even Lake Eola Park is filled with people and dogs -- good luck finding a vacant bench on a Saturday. But just a few miles from downtown is a gem called Dickson Azalea Park, between Robinson Street and Central Avenue near Thornton Park. You have probably passed the park, an unimposing place that sits 10 or so feet below street level. A trail winds down to the park. Up high, oaks stretch their branches, shading the path.

Bok Tower spoke to me, the first time I saw it, because it looked familiar. The elaborately carved tower reminded me of other places I had known and loved: the Gothic tower on my college campus in Massachusetts, the campanile under which I used to sit in the California sun and listen to its chorus of bells. But if you draw nearer to Bok Tower, the centerpiece of the 200-acre Bok Tower Gardens near Lake Wales, you see that the place is Florida all the way, from the cranes and herons carved in the tower's St. Augustine coquina stone to the azaleas, the live oaks and the longleaf pines that fill the grounds with color and shade.

By Reviewed By Nicholas A. Basbanes, Special to the Sentinel, June 9, 2002

With summer vacation at hand, reading and day dreaming about real and imagined places become the order of the day. Yet for all the traveling and visiting that may be done, it's always reassuring to be reminded that there is no place like home. SUPER MARKET The Dream Shop, by Katharine Kenah, illustrations by Peter Catalanotto (HarperCollins, $16.95, 32 pages): Informed by her cousin Joseph that it is possible to "purchase dreams" by following a few simple instructions -- "squeeze your eyes shut tight and think about wooden horses prancing backwards" -- Pip is transported to a huge mart that is filled with shelf after shelf of beguiling items.

Our neighbor down the street has bought land along the lake, landscaped it and put in a couple of benches that he generously allows those of us who don't live on the water to use. My wife and I were sitting there one evening recently. The last rays of the sun illuminated a stand of cypress trees on the far shore. A great blue heron passed by on slowly beating wings. Barred owls called from somewhere in the old oaks behind us. And as the light began to fade, a big, red Merry Christmas sign came on at one of the lakefront houses.

You may feel like you're constantly thinking about it, but how much time do you actually spend thinking clearly about where you've been and where you're going?The savviest entrepreneurs I know are constantly reviewing and analyzing their operations; then nimbly adjusting their strategies. Why? Because operating in a vacuum is the quickest way to go out of business.Before the holiday celebrations consume you, take some time to complete this easy year-end review. All you need is a quiet place, a pen and a few sheets of blank paper.

Murder victim Maria Ridulph was described as a sweet, trusting child by prosecutors in opening statements today at the trial of the man charged with her murder more than a half-century ago. Jack D. McCullough, a 72-year-old Seattle retiree and former Sycamore resident, is charged with killing the 7-year-old Sycamore girl in 1957 and dumping her body near Galena "in the cold dark woods like she was a piece of garbage," DeKalb County State's...

By Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub SUN-SENTINEL, SOUTH FLORIDA, August 8, 1998

Four years ago, when Chris Casson Madden's 35-year-old sister committed suicide, she realized she had no place to grieve alone.Madden found an answer by moving her 9-year-old son upstairs to a bigger bedroom and taking over his room. She furnished her special place with a comfortable chaise, a broken statue of Venus de Milo from the garden, a pine farm table, an old fishing basket and an old-fashioned dial phone (to remind her to take time to dial). The room's closet became an office that can be hidden when she wants to relax or meditate.

By Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub SUN-SENTINEL, SOUTH FLORIDA, August 8, 1998

Four years ago, when Chris Casson Madden's 35-year-old sister committed suicide, she realized she had no place to grieve alone.Madden found an answer by moving her 9-year-old son upstairs to a bigger bedroom and taking over his room. She furnished her special place with a comfortable chaise, a broken statue of Venus de Milo from the garden, a pine farm table, an old fishing basket and an old-fashioned dial phone (to remind her to take time to dial). The room's closet became an office that can be hidden when she wants to relax or meditate.

It can get awfully boring on a Friday or Saturday night in South Bay, a farming town on the edge of Lake Okeechobee. For Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Reidel Anthony, there were only two options: Run his mouth or run his legs.The fellows hung out on E Street until the talk turned challenging. Then, they would either race each other from light pole to light pole for $20 or chase rabbits.''You might not have too much success (chasing rabbits),'' Anthony said. ''I didn't have too much success, so I went out there with my gun the next time.